Obama Says U.S. Lacks Leadership on Virus in Commencement Speeches

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The virus has “torn back the curtain on the idea that the folks in charge know what they’re doing,” the former president said. “A lot of them aren’t even pretending to be in charge.”

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Without the springtime rituals of traditional graduation ceremonies, former President Barack Obama delivered two virtual commencement addresses on Saturday,

urging millions of high school and college graduates to fearlessly carve a path and “to seize the initiative” at a time when he says the nation’s leaders have fumbled the response to the coronavirus pandemic.

The speeches, aired hours apart, combined the inspirational advice given to graduates — build community, do what is right, be a leader

— with pointed criticism of the handling of an outbreak that has killed more than 87,000 Americans and crippled much of the economy.

Although Mr. Obama did not mention President Trump by name, some saw his comments as criticism of his successor.

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Unfortunately, a lot of so-called grown-ups, including some with fancy titles and important jobs, still think that way — which is why things are so screwed up.

Mr. Obama’s remarks were billed as commencement speeches, but they also appeared to be an effort to comfort and assure an American public divided by Mr. Trump’s handling of the crisis.

The former president also used the occasions to attempt to rally the nation in an election year around values historically championed by Democrats like universal health care, and environmental and economic justice.

Since leaving office three years ago, Mr. Obama generally has avoided publicly criticizing Mr. Trump.

But his jabs at the pandemic response could further inflame tensions between the two most recent occupants of the White House.

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Mr. Obama called the current administration’s response to the pandemic “anemic and spotty” in a private call last week with thousands of supporters who had worked for him.

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And in recent days Mr. Trump has unleashed tirades against Mr. Obama on Twitter and on television, resurrecting unfounded claims that his predecessor tried to bring him down by manufacturing the Russia investigation.

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Mr. Obama told the seniors the outbreak had forced them to “grow up faster than some generations,”

as they have had to deal with the pressures of social media, school shootings, climate change and, now, a pandemic.

He encouraged the high school graduates to face down those challenges, as scary as they might be.

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The Event Hosted by Kevin Hart, it also featured dozens of prominent African-American athletes, politicians and entertainers, many of whom were H.B.C.U.

It was a reference to the killing of Ahmaud Arbery, a 25-year-old black man who was chased by a white father and son and fatally shot in a coastal Georgia community in February.

As communities across the country emerge from stay-at-home measures, and people clash over how much freedom they should have, Mr. Obama suggested that Americans needed to be considerate of others.

He encouraged the graduates to work with other marginalized groups in their efforts to create societal change.

Mr. Obama is scheduled to make a third online commencement address on June 6, along with Michelle Obama, in a ceremony hosted by YouTube.

While he was president, Mr. Obama delivered the commencement addresses at three historically black schools, Hampton University, Howard University and Morehouse College.

The former president has had a complicated relationship with the H.B.C.U.

While overall funding for the institutions increased during his eight years in office, some complained that he did not make them a priority, and that cuts and changes made under his watch to Pell grants and other loan programs made life difficult for some H.B.C.U.

He called H.B.C.U. graduates the “inheritors of one of America’s proudest traditions,” and they needed to act.